Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Jul 25

Best refills at the fair, gone

Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

It’s a short story, but a notable one. Crescenti’s food stand won’t be at the Iowa State Fair for the first time in four decades. The five-paragraph, two-subhead story in the Des Moines Register says the owner is hanging it … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Best refills at the fair, gone
Jul 23

Koality control

Posted on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

This clip is from the RAGBRAI support vehicle map for today. /stares //STARES Does Gannett not have proofreaders for anything anymore? (This is a rhetorical question. — Ed.) And what map service were those support vehicle route directions copied from, … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous, Maps | Comments Off on Koality control
Jul 22

‘The Funeral Directors Of Flight 232’

Posted on Monday, July 22, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Via a KTIV story I learned of a 15-minute documentary about funeral directors who responded to the crash of United Flight 232 in Sioux City in 1989. It’s worth a watch. Last week was the 35th anniversary of the crash. … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on ‘The Funeral Directors Of Flight 232’
Jul 18

RAGBRAI LI and picking routes

Posted on Thursday, July 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

I did my annual look at RAGBRAI on my Substack site. This year, I concentrated more on the issue of mapping out routes in southern Iowa. The plain fact is, there are fewer options to choose from.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous, Maps | Comments Off on RAGBRAI LI and picking routes
Jul 12

60th anniversary of Walcott truck stop

Posted on Friday, July 12, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The location now known as the Iowa 80 Truckstop, or the “World’s Largest Truckstop”, opened at the Walcott exit on I-80 six decades ago. It is also the 45th anniversary of the Truckers Jamboree there. Stories: Quad-City Times via Cedar … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on 60th anniversary of Walcott truck stop
Jul 09

Randalia has disincorporated

Posted on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The 897th-largest town in Iowa isn’t a town anymore. KCRG reports that Randalia, in Fayette County, officially unincorporated on June 30. The town’s population was 84 in 2000, but had fallen to 50 in 2020. The story said that to … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Randalia has disincorporated
Jun 07

The kolach inflation index

Posted on Friday, June 7, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

For the first time in five years, St. Ludmila’s Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids is having a real kolach festival. There was no celebration in 2020 or 2021 (but there were sales), and 2022 was somewhat but not quite normal. … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on The kolach inflation index
May 31

The sign of ‘Freedom’

Posted on Friday, May 31, 2024, at 11:00 AM by Jeff

I wrote something last week that starts with something very much in my zone but goes a little beyond it. I wouldn’t suggest extrapolating it too much into my thinking of things. It got picked up by the Iowa Capital … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on The sign of ‘Freedom’
May 20

My trivia night with Iowa PBS

Posted on Monday, May 20, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Where are both Captain James T. Kirk and Thomas Jefferson key to a trivia quest? In Iowa, of course!

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on My trivia night with Iowa PBS
May 10

Jeopardy Masters? More like Jeopardy minors

Posted on Friday, May 10, 2024, at 10:06 AM by Jeff

James Holzhauer, the worst Jeopardy villain of all time, and Matt Amodio, possibly the third-worst Jeopardy villain of all time, both had no answer for this clue last week: This state is not famous as a source of jazz talent, … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Jeopardy Masters? More like Jeopardy minors